Mid-term Exam, Part 6

At this moment, the safe zone was undergoing a new round of contraction.

The first contraction covered the largest area and provided ample time.

This time, the safe zone almost entirely encompassed the main peak’s summit, with only small portions of the Artifact School and Pill School’s subsidiary peaks within its coverage.

The rest of the area outside the safe zone was shrouded in a layer of swirling dust.

The examinees who noticed, even if they didn’t know why, mostly understood from the previous situation that the yellow circle signified the safe area. They rushed towards it without delay.

However, a few stubborn individuals were unwilling to abandon the resources before them, maintaining a hesitant attitude.

It was at this moment that a new line of text appeared at the very top of Su Qing’s vision: 1450/2016.

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It was a live broadcast.

The 2016 at the end was naturally the total number, while the 1450 at the front should be the current total number of people.

This meant that in just this short while, over 500 people had been eliminated?

The Sword School’s midterm exam was truly terrifying.

She was somewhat curious about the consequences of being caught outside the encirclement. Would it be a countdown to life, like in a game, or some other kind of reward?

After all, even useless things like broken stones could be put to good use, so there was probably nothing useless in this game.

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Su Qing made up her mind that next time the circle contracted, she would venture outside the yellow circle to investigate.

Of course, the immediate priority was to tally the gains from her battle with Jiang Chixue.

She ducked into the Sword-Testing Forest, only to run head-on into two first-year students.

Before Su Qing could react, they looked as if they’d seen a ghost, turning tail and fleeing.

As they ran, they shouted, “Senior Sister Su, spare my life! I don’t want to fail, I don’t want to retake the exam!”

Su Qing scoffed faintly. These two were still wearing their initial robes, without a single high-grade item on them.

They were probably adhering to the “cowardly” playstyle.

The “cowardly” playstyle meant to lay low, avoid all combat, quietly scavenge for supplies, hoard them, and last until the end.

Completing the exam by relying on superior survival time was not necessarily a bad method.

She herself was somewhat of a “cowardly” player, both cowardly and reckless; in short, very pragmatic.

Su Qing ignored them and hid under a large rock in the forest, beginning to rummage through her storage bag for the rewards from the Area BOSS battle.

As she expected, the rewards were substantial.

First, Jiang Chixue’s Celestial Net Array was hers, and his destined sword, named [Three Spring Blooms], was also pocketed.

A Golden Core cultivator’s resources were truly excellent, resources she wouldn’t even be able to obtain by grinding monsters in the Sword Tomb for a lifetime.

[Formation: Celestial Net (Tier 3 Mid-grade): As a formation, it has been dutiful enough. It attributes this mission’s failure to that broken sword. It said long ago that pure formation cultivation is the only correct path.]

[Destined Sword (Three Spring Blooms): As a destined sword, it has done its utmost. It attributes this mission’s failure to that broken formation. It said long ago that pure sword cultivation is the only correct path. Effect: Attack +1000]

Su Qing: ‘………………You two are really passing the buck to each other.’

[Array Cultivator’s Pride *100: Although useless, Body School disciples rejoice at the sight. Effect: Provocation *100, increases Array School disciples’ excitement, and sometimes has unexpected effects on Body School disciples.]

[One Against Three (Forced Equip): Although useless, first-year students rejoice at the sight, third-year students rage at the sight. Effect: Inferiors overcome superiors, Provocation *100]

[Golden Peng Bright Light Robe: Jiang Chixue’s best magical robe, cheap for you, wear it for a bit. Effect: Defense +1500]

[Purple Tassel Crown: Jiang Chixue’s best headpiece, cheap for you, wear it for a bit. Effect: Defense +1500]

These were the main rewards. In addition, there were common drops: [Braised Chicken Leg *300], [Small Mirror Lake Spring Water (Large Bottle) *200], [Small Mirror Lake Spring Water (Small Bottle) *300], [Broken Sword Fragments *5000], [Useless Broken Stones *20000], and so on.

Besides the fluctuating spirit stones, the fixed numerical reward was [Sword Qi +5000].

The Sword Tomb truly lived up to its name as a place for sword cultivation; even the rewards were related to swords. Su Qing’s current Sword Qi value had already reached over nine thousand. She estimated that once her Sword Qi broke ten thousand, her Man Qing Sword should be able to advance to Tier 4.

By then, even against a Golden Core cultivator, she would have a fighting chance.

Unfortunately, Su Qing had already swept through most of the sword monsters in the Sword Tomb. The remaining Sword Qi would likely have to be obtained by eliminating opponents, a process that couldn’t be rushed.

After the encirclement shrunk, Su Qing clearly noticed a significant increase in the frequency of encountering people.

However, most people would flee upon seeing her. Su Qing hadn’t understood why at first, but now she realized it was all thanks to the enormous [One Against Three] plastered on her forehead. Of course, some were eager to test her, and Su Qing didn’t stand on ceremony with them. After eliminating the Area BOSS, her stats were very high, and she typically ended battles with little effort.

After clearing out most of the lesser monsters in the Sword-Testing Forest, Su Qing didn’t risk challenging the third-year Golden Core cultivator there.

Her luck in the Sword Tomb was due to encountering an immobile Array Cultivator; if she were to meet a third-year Body Cultivator senior sister again, she might just get beaten to the ground.

For her next stop, Su Qing decided to go to Small Mirror Lake on the main peak, which was nearby.

At this time, the safe zone shrunk once more, with the yellow line now pressing down just tens of li from Small Mirror Lake.

Already, nearly a thousand people had been eliminated, showing how the shrinking safe zone intensified the battles.

Su Qing stealthily made her way to the edge of the yellow line, a regular route leading to Small Mirror Lake.

Especially since the ferry crossing between the Pill School’s subsidiary peak and the main peak was not far ahead.

She surveyed her surroundings, then silently deployed the Celestial Net Array, placing it right on the edge of the safe zone.

In reality, activating a high-tier formation was not easy, not to mention the tedious preparatory work, the calculations of feng shui, and the intricacies of troop deployment.

But in the game, all Su Qing had to do was find a spot and click to place it.

After doing all that, she stealthily hid far away, using her Aura Concealment Art to observe secretly.

Soon, a group of Pill Cultivators, hurrying along, jumped from a cloud boat onto the ferry crossing.

Their condition was relatively good, but each of them was surrounded by a misty red aura, indicating a continuous loss of health.

The first thing these Pill School students did upon reaching the crossing was to scan their surroundings with their divine sense, confirming no ambush before relaxing slightly.

They quickly rushed towards Small Mirror Lake, conversing in hushed tones.

“Just ten more li to Small Mirror Lake, everyone, keep going.”

“Finally escaped. This sandstorm is truly unnerving, it’s draining my HP layer by layer.”

“It’s not without its benefits. Someone said excitedly, “We killed quite a few people on the way here. That’s a much greater harvest than refining pills or clearing monsters.” @Exclusive good literature, all at Jinjiang Literature City

Another person spoke, whom Su Qing recognized as Jiang Shuyi, her former teammate from Tianque City. She mused, “I think the sect’s intention is to force us all into one place to fight each other. There are probably even more people on the main peak, so we must be careful.”

“Exactly, exactly. It’s better to be cautious, after all, survival time is also one of the important grading criteria.”

“Right, living is victory!”

Everyone wholeheartedly agreed with this statement, and so they proceeded with even greater caution through the next section of the path, then, carefully and cautiously, walked right into the Celestial Net Array.

Half an hour later, Su Qing’s inventory contained many new items, especially Tier 1 and Tier 2 basic pills.

As expected of the Sword School’s Pill Cultivators, they were all high-quality.

She offered a silent apology in her heart. Incidentally, the formation disk was truly useful; just leave it there, waiting for fish to bite. This feeling of being in control was indeed addictive.

With the formation disk automatically collecting resources for her, Su Qing could relax a bit.

She thought for a moment, then stepped outside the yellow line, into the sandstorm-eroded land.

Outside, sand and stones flew, and the wind cut like knives, stripping flesh and skin from one’s body.

Naturally, this also caused health loss, reflected in her HP bar.

Moreover, the rate of HP loss started slow and then accelerated, becoming several times faster in the later stages than in the earlier ones.

Thinking of this, Su Qing put away all her equipment and stood alone in the sandstorm.

After about two quarters of an hour, her health bar was halved.

At three quarters of an hour, her health bar dropped to a critical level, with less than ten percent remaining.

Her vision displayed a severe injury warning, and everything she saw was dyed crimson.

If it were anyone else, after realizing the terror of the sandstorm’s erosion, they would likely retreat to the safe zone in time to replenish their health.

But Body Cultivators were different; they were naturally madmen who loved to challenge the limits of their bodies and always optimistically believed they could turn the tide.

After all, Body Cultivators believed in greater risks, greater suffering, and greater rewards.

So, out of habit, Su Qing waited until her health bar turned a striking dark red before taking a few steps back into the safe zone and chugging a large bottle of Small Mirror Lake Spring Water.

Although the healing was time-consuming, the effect was surprisingly good.

Su Qing was even more astonished to find that when her health bar was full again, it had expanded by another segment, about one-tenth of its original length.

Had she found a bug? No.

Erosion by the sandstorm outside the safe zone was destruction, and healing with Small Mirror Lake spring water was restoration.

Destruction, restoration?

She was very familiar with this; wasn’t this electronic body tempering?

When the encirclement shrunk to its limit, everyone would undoubtedly have to fight with nowhere to hide, and there would likely be no time for healing.

If she could expand her health limit and lengthen her HP bar by moving in and out of the circle to seek opportunities, she might just have a fighting chance.

In essence, while Su Qing didn’t show it on her face or say it aloud, in her heart, she still felt that there was no reason for the second and third-year seniors to win the first-year exam.

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This was a battle for the honor of their year.

Since the victors would be the first-year students, what was wrong with her reaching for that goal?

Anyway, with the Celestial Net Array waiting to snare prey for her, Su Qing didn’t have to do anything.

Her spirit stones, Sword Qi, health, and other stats were all steadily increasing; she wasn’t lacking resources.

Moreover, in the Sword Tomb, she had already brought her attack power to the forefront through Sword Qi bonuses.

This was now a perfect opportunity to expand her health, aligning with her cultivation goal of high attack and high defense.

Su Qing continued this cycle of destruction and restoration many times.

By the time the circle contracted again, the fourth time, her health bar had already expanded to twice its original length.

And when she returned to the formation, she even discovered she had achieved a new accomplishment: [One Against Two *4].

This meant that during the time she spent body tempering, the formation had actually eliminated four second-year students for her.

Su Qing was stunned for a moment, then felt a rush of exhilaration surge through her.

No wonder Array Cultivators always thought so highly of themselves; their lives were indeed this carefree.

However, one cannot walk by the river often without getting wet shoes.

Soon, Su Qing realized that the shrinking encirclement also meant that the group of Golden Core-stage third-year seniors were being gathered together.